


City lights lay out before us

by dutchmoxie



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 03:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2333813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchmoxie/pseuds/dutchmoxie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times they picked each other up from bad dates, and one time they didn't have to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	City lights lay out before us

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-d by the fab hihiyas, prompted by Rachel/thegirlofpensandbooks on Tumblr

ONE

It had started years ago, back when she was in high school, when her parents were understandably hesitant about letting her borrow the car, and ridiculously overprotective about her going out on dates. As in, she was not allowed to go out with anyone unless they’d been vetted by her dad or their neighbor, Mr. Jaha.

_Yeah, she was very popular after that came out._

So when Finn Collins had been approved of – Mr. Jaha was not a fan of his, but her father liked him well enough – and they could finally go on that date he’d been promising her for weeks now, she was positively elated.

Until they actually went on the date. Because as it turned out, Finn had neglected to tell her he’d had a serious girlfriend at his previous school. And he had never quite managed to break up with this Raven, which Clarke only found out about because the other girl showed up on their damn date and proceeded to talk a mile a minute about the twelve-hour journey she’d undertaken to see her beloved Finn again.

She had to step away then, because she did not want to mess up this reunion. The problem was that Finn had driven them to the theater, and she had no way of getting home now that he was all over his real girlfriend. Right in the theater lobby!

It was at least an hour’s walk back home, and her parents would have killed her if they found her walking home alone after dark. Yeah, there was no decent solution to this.

“If it isn’t the Princess.” She turned to see Bellamy Blake walking towards her, right there to witness her humiliation. “I see your date is going swimmingly. What a space head.”

Great! This was just perfect! Even though she’d been nothing but kind to the Blake family, being Octavia’s assigned Big Sister, Bellamy had taken it upon himself to be an asshole all the time. He did not like that some privileged brat – his words – had come into their tiny house and seen just how bad things got. He didn’t like that she knew just how his mother made her money most days.

Bellamy did not like that she knew all of his weaknesses.

“You are ever so kind,” she pasted on a kind smile.

Antagonizing Octavia’s brother was just a bad idea, no matter that she’d fantasized about smacking him across the face. The young girl had enough problems without there being a feud between the older brother she idolized and the only real friend she had.

“Cut the crap, Princess,” Bellamy rolled his eyes at her, as usual. “Do you need a ride home, or what? It’s a limited time offer.”

Seriously? Now she had to choose between walking home alone and angering her parents with her self-sufficiency, or getting a ride home from the most annoying ass that she’d ever met. This might not have been a true Sophie’s choice, but it was still bad enough to make her purse her mouth. She already knew what her choice would have to be – she was a good girl after all, and good girls just did not disappoint her parents.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Do you remember where I live?”

Another patented Bellamy Blake eye roll followed at that. Hey, he couldn’t blame her if she wasn’t sure if he’d remember – he only drove her home once when it was pouring rain and Aurora Blake had insisted. Bellamy might have been a total asshole, but he never said no to his mother – no matter what she asked of him.

“It’s easy,” Bellamy spoke before turning around. “I just follow the scent of money.”

Yep, it was just so damn easy for him to blame her for her family’s wealth. It wasn’t as if she had anything to do with that whatsoever – but no, it was just so much easier for him to put all the blame squarely on her strong shoulders.

“Lovely,” she rushed after him, trying to match his long strides.

He was already walking away before she’d even had the time to say goodbye to Finn – not that she particularly wanted to interrupt the round of tonsil tennis that had started between Finn and his Raven. She scrunched up her face – one day, when she’d finally had her first kiss, it would look a whole lot more romantic than that.

Damn it, she was seventeen years old – her parents needed to just let her grow up already. She was old enough to drive, so why was she not deemed old enough to choose her own dates? It made no damn sense.

“Get in,” Bellamy refused to open the door for her. “I’ll return you to your tower.”

Biting her lip to keep from tearing into him, she slammed the car door in retaliation. She was almost relieved when the music in the car was turned up loud. It discouraged any attempts at conversation – which was not something she wanted to engage in with Bellamy Blake anyway.

“Thank you,” she told him when he had pulled over in front of the Griffin house.

“Whatever,” was his eloquent response. “O would have killed me if I’d left you there.”

 

TWO

Prom was supposed to end a whole lot better than this. She made the smart choice and agreed to Wells’ offer – her parents could not object to her going with her old friend and neighbor. They were going to hang out as friends and then go home together at a decent hour. There was a Lord of the Rings marathon waiting to happen at home.

But then Wells and his basketball buddies decided that they just had to go to the after party at some cheerleader’s house.  They invited her along – more out of politeness than because they actually wanted her there – and she had to accept, seeing as Wells was her ride home.

That left her as just about the only sober person at a kegger – not only did she not trust the drinks she’d get here, but she wanted to be sober in case Wells got drunk. The people around her were playing drinking games, doing keg stands, spinning bottles and doing everything that her parents did not approve of – which should have made her happy. Instead, she was counting the minutes until Wells gave up on the volleyball girl he was pursuing and told her that it was time to go home.

Midnight passed while she waited, and when she spotted Wells in a heated lip lock with the tall girl in question, she knew that she had to give up on watching Aragorn onscreen for the night. So there she was, awkwardly seated on a couch with several mysterious stains, declining every offer to just have a drink and loosen up.

Because apparently she would be so much hotter if she just had a drink.

“What is a princess like you doing in a place like this?” Bellamy Blake crashed onto the couch, seating himself next to her without another word.

“Just slumming it with the commoners,” she gave him her most regal look and hoped that he would just go away. “It’s all the rage at the moment.”

They still weren’t getting along, even though they actually agreed on some things these days – Octavia’s new boyfriend in particular. The guy was just bad news, with his talk of forbidden love and his rap sheet with several violent offenses.

“Your highness,” he actually laughed.

“Sir Bellamy,” she was quick to respond. “Did you leave your white horse at the stables?”

When she’d come home the last time he drove her home, she’d texted Octavia just to make sure that both she and her mother knew about the unexpected kindness that Bellamy had shown her. She knew it would piss him off beyond reason. Afterwards, she’d started referring to him as her knight, which infuriated him even more.

“Shut it,” he rolled his eyes. “So, did you finally give into the boy’s begging and let him take you out on a date? I hope you brought a condom.”

Begging was too strong a word to summarize Wells’ repeated questions, but he had come awfully close to it. He had been so insistent that they do this final high school thing together, before they went off to separate colleges in separate cities. He might have kept a bit closer to her than he did normally, even asking her to dance for a couple of the slow songs, but there were no red flags going up in her head. Until now.

“My friend and I went to prom together,” she said, emphasizing the word friend.

“If that tall chick hadn’t shown interest, you would be the one going upstairs with him now. Because guess what: girls that look like you can’t just be a boy’s friend. He wants in your pants, Princess.” Bellamy was being unnecessarily cruel.

Girls that look like her? What is that even supposed to mean? She was probably the only virgin in her graduating class, because there was surprisingly little interest from anyone. Her reputation of being a boring buzz kill with ridiculously high standards kept the boys from trying.

“You’re being ridiculous,” this time she was the one rolling her eyes at him. “Wells and I have been friends forever. This was just our last hurrah before college.”

Just the thought of Wells in that way was enough to make her really uncomfortable – this guy was the closest thing she’d ever had to a brother, and she never wanted that to change. She never wanted or needed anything else from him. She had never given him signals, or whatever that was supposed to mean.

This just was not making sense to her.

“He wanted to nail you without having to deal with the consequences,” Bellamy was not going to let this go. “Sorry to burst your bubble.”

Wells was just not that kind of guy – sure, she was surprised that he would consider no strings attached sex with a volleyball player who couldn’t have been more than a junior, but he had never even hinted at wanting something like that from her. This was just Bellamy’s jaded perspective coloring his opinion of Wells. She knew that they didn’t much like each other the few times that they had met.

“Not everyone is as shallow as you,” she struck back with precision. “Octavia told me about the revolving door to your bedroom. Seriously, the kid is fifteen and really impressionable. You might want to consider not being so obvious – or at least staying over at the girl’s place next time.”

Maybe it was bad manners to reveal details from a private conversation, but she’d been meaning to talk to him about this anyway. The timing could probably have been better, but she’d deal with that later. Octavia was kind of disgusted by her brother’s sex life, and she really did not want to be confronted with it so often, having to kick half-naked women out of her house at least once a week.

“Princess,” he leaned in, leaving them almost nose-to-nose. “That is none of your damn business – unless you want to get in on the action.”

Did the ass just proposition her sexually? What the hell was he thinking?

“Dream on,” she shot back ever so quickly.

It was tempting to add something about not actually being that desperate, but she knew that would be taking it too far. And she really did not want to get in a shouting match with Bellamy Blake in the midst of a kegger, surrounded by her drunken classmates and their even drunker friends. Coming here was a bad decision.

They were sitting closer than they ever had before, and she could see just how full his lips were, and how his eyes darkened the longer she looked at his mouth. Shit, this was not going in the right direction. Or was it?

Another breath and their lips were touching – her first kiss. Her breath hitched ever so slightly before she got the hang of breathing through her nose. His mouth moved confidently, teasing her until she was determined to prove how good a kisser she should be. Their fight continued in that kiss, with the first hesitant touch of her tongue to his.

When he broke it off, she was breathing heavily, her eyes wide with the realization of just how tempting a man’s lips could be. She never thought that she could ever be attracted to or interested in Bellamy Blake, but this kiss almost had her change her mind.

Almost, but not quite.

“I’ll drive you home,” Bellamy stood up from the couch.

“Thank you,” she was still a little breathless.

Her lips were still tingling when she stepped into her bedroom.

 

THREE:

Her second and third kiss were with other men, fellow freshmen at the Ivy League university she’d been accepted to. Once she figured out that kissing, while wonderful, did not necessarily have to lead her down the dark path, she enjoyed it as much as she could, engaging in silly games she never took part in when she was still in high school.

Bellamy Blake she remembered with a kind of exasperated fondness she reserved solely for him. She hadn’t set eyes on him in months when the call came.

“Princess, it’s Lancelot calling.” His voice still made her stomach flip.

Here she was, in her old bedroom, feeling more awkward around her parents than she had any right to be. She was not the same girl who left only a few months ago – the young woman who’d returned for Thanksgiving break had already gotten used to taking care of herself without her parents’ stifling laws.

It was hard going by the old rules again, barely being allowed out of the house without her mother’s express permission. Her father was actually starting to understand that she was a grown-up now, and that she was to be awarded all the rights associated with her maturity – but her mother refused to see it. Abby Griffin wanted her daughter to check in every hour when she was outside of the house, and she made sure that Clarke was never outside the house without her say-so.

“Did Octavia give you my number?” she stalled, trying to figure out how to act.

“She did,” the response was quick. “Look, I need you to return the favor.”

That was not a very clear statement – because she’d done him dozens of favors, mostly related to his sister. But what kind of favor had he ever done her?

“My date is, not what I expected,” Bellamy sounded kind of pained. “She has decided that we’re having a spring wedding. This is the first date, mind you. Could you be my knight for once? Octavia wasn’t picking up.”

Very telling, how she was his second option after his sister. Did he not have some friends of his own that he could call in a situation like this? Even though they did kiss that one time, she knew that he didn’t care for her all that much. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since that kiss.

“What do you need me to do?” her sigh was deep and pained.

“Just come get me,” Bellamy sounded none too happy to be asking her for help. “I’m at Monty’s restaurant. Or his father’s restaurant. Just hurry, because I think she’s thinking of names for the children. All six of them.”

No laughing – she was not supposed to laugh at this. The girl was not to be pitied, and Bellamy was not the misunderstood hero of this tale – the ass had probably misled the girl somehow, or said something that made her think he was in it for more than just a few rounds of sex. Bellamy Blake did not do relationships.

“Octavia dropped me off before her date with Jasper,” now the true pain showed in Bellamy’s voice. “At least he’s better than that Lincoln dude.”

The long-suffering big brother was such a damn hypocrite. Even though Octavia was still in high school – that did not mean that she was not mature enough to have a solid sense of judgment. Seriously, Octavia was smarter than most of her class, and Bellamy knew that very well. He was just being a stubborn idiot.

“If you’re done whining about your sister’s dating life,” she interrupted, rolling her eyes at his behavior. “I’ll borrow my dad’s car. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

Without another word, she hung up on him, preparing herself mentally for the terrible conversation she’d have to have with her paranoid mother. There was nothing about the truth that would convince Abby Griffin to let her daughter out of the house – so Clarke hoped desperately that her father was in his study. That way, she had the possibility of avoiding her mother altogether. Things were always better that way.

“Dad,” she knocked on the study door, crossing her fingers like a superstitious child.

“Daughter,” he responded like the dork he was. “What’s up?”

When she opened the study door, she found her father with his feet up on the desk, reading a first edition of a fantasy novel. It was not a new picture, and she smiled fondly at the sight. That was a true sign of coming home: her father being the King of the Geeks, hiding his dorky side from his wife, and failing to hide it from his daughter. After all, this was the guy who first introduced her to Tolkien.

“I just need to borrow the car for an hour or so,” she tried to keep her request as simple as possible. “My friend is stuck in town on the most awkward date possible, and I have to help him before he ends up married to an over-excited stranger.”

If anyone would still help her after hearing the truth, it was her Dad. Jake Griffin was not nearly as bad as his wife when it came to keeping her holed up like she was some kind of princess in an ivory tower. He might actually let her have the keys, even if it was just for an hour. An hour was all she needed to help Bellamy anyway.

“That story is just outrageous enough to be true,” her Dad grinned. “Be back before midnight! And I’ll try to distract your mother.”

With a kiss on his cheek, she picked the car keys from his outstretched hand and skipped out of the study. She moved down the hall on her tiptoes, the soles of her sneakers scuffing against the hardwood floors. Right when she was trying to open the front door, her father threw open the door of his study.

“Where is my lovely wife?” he bellowed, giving her plenty of time to escape.

She was still fondly shaking her head at her father’s behavior when she parked his car outside the restaurant Bellamy had mentioned. She turned off the engine, locked the door behind her before heading towards the entrance and taking a deep breath.

Damn it, this was not going to be pretty.

“Bellamy Blake,” she shouted the second she walked in.

“Clarke, darling,” was the ridiculous response. “What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t want to be with me any longer.”

Oh no, the asshole did not just do what she thought he did. That was a terrible idea that she did not want to be a part of – the poor girl did not deserve this kind of bullshit!

“Bellamy,” she warned him, her voice low.

It was still very much in the realm of possibilities for her to walk back out the door without so much as another look in his direction. She would not contribute to this, to making a fool of this girl, no matter how over-enthusiastic she might have been.

“Apologies, my dear,” Bellamy bowed to his date, leaving several bills on the table to cover his part of the check. “It appears that my ride has arrived. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I think it’s best that our date ends here. Thank you.”

Well, at least the ass was honest with her. She still smacked the back of his head when he reached her, though. What an idiot.

 

FOUR

After the accident, she’d been tempted to move back home. But the one reason that would have made life at home bearable was now gone, her mother having gone from over-protective to pretty much delusional at the loss of Jake Griffin. The house had become a prison that she’d barely escaped from to return to class after the funeral.

No, she was not going back there until her mother had made progress with the therapist slash grief counselor she had contacted for her.

She’d stayed in the city, hiding in her dorm room and annoying her roommate, who just wanted to get back to her normal life – one night stands included. The first time she left the dorm – just to get a decent cup of coffee – she was immediately sexiled upon her return. And in the middle of the day too. How her roommate managed that so fast, she didn’t know, and she never wanted to.

After a few weeks, and a lot more sexiling, she started slipping back into her old life, attending her classes regularly and figuring out if she still had friends. That is, if she had any in the first place. There was no one comforting her at the funeral.

Octavia Blake was there afterwards, and she had put on a comforting face for the closest thing she had to a little sister. She was not supposed to show just how much pain she was feeling; because she was the one Octavia should be able to depend on. She could not let those roles be reversed. She had to be strong.

But Octavia was still in her hometown, miles and miles away. Now, she was alone. Alone in her dorm room, waiting for something exciting to happen.

That’s when the phone rang.

“I need a favor,” were the first words she heard when she picked up the phone.

“Bellamy?” she remembered his voice so well, even now.

What was he doing calling her, asking for favors? He was hours away from her – and they had barely spoken to each other since that night she picked him up. That was Thanksgiving break; her father’s funeral had happened over Spring Break and now finals were right around the corner. It had been months since she’d seen him in person – he never showed up to the funeral, even though she had stupidly hoped he would.

“I’m in town on business,” he continued, as if she’d never said a word. “And I have a dinner with some of the people I’m hoping to do business with. I was supposed to bring a date, so I went to lunch with this girl, hoping she’d go with me. It’s not going well.”

He was in town? Bellamy Blake was actually in town? And of course he didn’t even contact her unless he needed her for something or other. Here she thought they were actually friends, or on their way to becoming friends. Guess she was wrong.

“I don’t have a car here,” she spoke, before he actually asked.

“I’ll pay for your bus or cab fare,” the offer came in quickly. “I’ll even pay for your dress.”

Wait, what dress? Oh, no! No, no, no! He did not just ask her that. Wait, he didn’t actually ask her anything. Did he assume she would say yes anyway? Did he assume she would drop everything to do him a favor? Damn this. He didn’t know about her crush on him, but that was probably a factor in her agreeing to this. Maybe.

“Hold up there,” she went straight into her future Biology teacher voice. “Did I hear you actually ask me anything? No. Have you talked to me at all lately? No.”

Yes, it was time to actually get angry. She wasn’t allowed to get mad at her roommate for being an unfeeling bitch, and she couldn’t get mad at the asshole that ran a red light and killed her dad – because being mad at dead people was useless. But Bellamy Blake was just the right target for her fury.

“Slow down there, Princess,” his voice was still completely calm.

“No thank you,” she snapped from between clenched teeth.

“Yes, I was going to ask you to go to the dinner with me,” Bellamy now talked in the same reassuring voice he always used when Octavia was upset. “But if you don’t wanna go, that’s fine too. And if you’re really that upset about not talking to me…. I apologize for not being at the funeral. I had to go out of town for work.”

It was a lame excuse, but at least it was true. So many people had claimed to be sick or away or otherwise incapable of showing up at the funeral. Her father’s friends and colleagues had failed to show – even the Jaha’s were absent. She’d easily lumped Bellamy in with the rest of them.

“How’s this thing going to work?” she tried so hard to sound unaffected. “I take the bus to come see you, you buy me some frilly dress and then I play the dumb blonde at your little work dinner? You are going to owe me so big.”

So maybe she was already making up a list of all of the things she might get him to do for her. And maybe she was sorely tempted to put some more-than-PG things on there, not just because she wanted her roommate to know what being sexiled felt like. She wanted Bellamy, no matter how terrible of an idea that was.

“Please just be your genius self,” it sounded like he was actually begging. “I need someone to keep me sane throughout this mess.”

The compliment came out so easily, so fluently, as if it were sincere rather than just a way he knew to butter her up. Or did he actually think she was that smart?

“Are you actually losing it?” she was really trying not to be amused.

“Yes,” Bellamy admitted easily. “This dinner needs to go perfectly. Now if you could please come get me? My date abandoned me at this restaurant and I have no idea how to go anywhere from here.”

Picking each other up from bad dates was starting to become a habit.

“You would be lost without me,” she proclaimed.

“And don’t I know it,” he agreed quickly. “You are a lifesaver.”

If only.

 

FIVE

Bellamy was in town more and more after that, his business relationships booming after the successful dinner. He attributed most of it to her, and she just rolled her eyes at him a little more often than usual – to which he responded with worrying about her ocular health, like the ass he was. Her eyes were perfectly fine.

They were seeing a lot of each other – he was actually looking for a place in the city, and in the mean time he occasionally crashed on her floor. His bedhead was ridiculous and adorable and sometimes he’d wake up before her and get them both breakfast. Her roommate was out a lot, so often it was just the two of them. Alone in her dorm.

Yes, her crush on him had not gone away, as she hoped it would. Seeing him so often, so close, going out to breakfast, lunch, and dinner together… Sometimes it felt like they were actually dating, just not kissing yet.

But he never saw her that way, or at least he never did anything about it. And she was tired of watching him grin adorably at other women, or pocket the waitress’ number after what had been a lovely dinner. She was tired of being jealous over him.

So she decided it was time to get over him. It was time for her to go out of her comfort zone and try this whole dating thing again – with men who were not Bellamy. Anyone but Bellamy Blake would do for her next date.

This guy in her only literature class seemed interested in her, and so she made an extra effort to talk to him. Within a week, he’d asked her out to dinner and a movie at some boring restaurant. Sure, she was not as excited about it as she probably should have been, but this was only ever supposed to be her first step. She was not expecting this guy to be the love of her life. Maybe he was just mister Right Now.

That was all she needed anyway.

She dressed up nice, a simple sundress she’d bought as a gift to herself after doing well on her finals. Her sandals had heels that she wasn’t quite comfortable in, but it was what a girl was supposed to wear on a date. She’d stuck with everything she was supposed to do according to movies and magazines.

And for a while the date was nice – he knew a lot about literary history, and she’d learned too much from Bellamy’s tales of the non-fiction publishing world. She knew more about historical novels than she ever intended to, but at least her date was impressed. The irony stung a little, though, because it was almost too much that the knowledge she’d gleaned from the guy she was trying to get over was the very thing that impressed the guy she needed to distract her.

There were no real sparks, but she was having a good time, which was why she was so annoyed when her phone rang right after dinner. They still had a movie to see, and they had barely decided which one it was going to be.

“Where are you?” was the first thing he said.

“Why are you calling?” she questioned in return.

Giving her date an apologetic look, she really hoped there was no emergency. Still, she was worried that something might have happened to Octavia – Bellamy didn’t call her very often. He was better with the written or typed word, he claimed. And since their schedules rarely matched up well enough to call, she let that slide.

“I’m at your dorm,” he spoke so casually. “You aren’t here.”

“I’m on a date,” she made sure that her voice did not betray her nerves.

The man across from her smiled at that, apparently a little more invested in this night than she was. He seemed excited about the prospect of another date, and she wasn’t even sure that she would be able to muster up interest, let alone feelings, for him. She was still so caught up in her stupid feelings for stupid Bellamy.

“But I found a place,” it sounded like Bellamy was actually pouting. “You promised you’d come see it with me if I found something.”

It was a lovely idea, him having his own place in the city. It was better for her to not have him sleep on her floor anymore – hearing him breathe steadily only a few feet away was too close, too intimate. It was too much like having him next to her as she slept. His place in her life would have to change – having him right next to her was a bad idea. She was never going to get over him if he was around all the time.

“You should have asked if I had plans,” her voice took on the screechy tone it always did when she got angry. “I do have a life, you know. I can’t be at your beck and call.”

Actually, it was more like she refused to be that kind of girl. She did not want to be that girl, who was a convenient thing for Bellamy, even though she very well could let herself be. Really, it was not that he was using her; it was just that she made spending time with her too easy for him. She was always available whenever he needed her. It was just so hard to say no to him when she kept wishing for more.

“I’m sorry,” he sounded more sarcastic than sincerely sorry. “I wasn’t aware that my wanting to spend time with you was such an inconvenience.”

What an asshole! Damn it, she knew how quickly he turned defensive when his feelings got hurt. Still, it surprised her that he would care so much about this, about her. They were “just” friends – and though Bellamy Blake never had many friends, especially not female friends, she could not have been that special to him. She had never been that special to anyone. Why would it change now?

“Excuse me,” she belatedly mumbled to her date, not wanting to start this fight at the table.

She knew it was bad manners, taking a call at the table, especially in the middle of a slightly promising date. Would she have taken the call if it had been anyone but Bellamy? The answer was simple: no, she wouldn’t have. She would have ignored her own mother – she would have ignored anyone who wasn’t Bellamy Blake. Well, she would probably have taken Octavia’s call. That could have been about Bellamy, and she was just a terrible person who should not be dating anyone right now.

“Is he dreamy?” Bellamy was angry now. “Is he so gorgeous that you just have to sigh at his beauty? Is he the smartest guy ever? Or the funniest?”

Weirdly enough, he sounded almost jealous of this guy – which was just the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. Bellamy didn’t like her that way. Also, he was just not the kind of guy to get jealous over something. Right?

“At least he is not being an asshole right now,” she was not going to let this go. “What the hell is your problem? I’m allowed to go on a damn date. I don’t need your permission. I can date whoever I want to date, for whatever reasons I so choose.”

Clarke Griffin simply would not stand for this kind of bullshit, not from anyone. At least this bad behavior would make it easier for her to get the hell over Bellamy Blake. If he was this possessive of her as a friend, she didn’t even want to imagine how much worse he would be if they ever started dating. She didn’t want to be with a guy who couldn’t let her make her own choices – and even though she never even imagined that Bellamy would be like that, it turned out that he was not the guy she’d made him out to be. The pedestal she had created for him was crumbling to dust already.

“I’ll come get you,” Bellamy declared.

“Why?” she knew that was a ridiculous idea.

“Because we need to talk,” his answer was even more puzzling.

What was there for them to talk about? If he was just going to lecture her about her life choices, she was going to leave before he even got here. That was not something that was going to happen – and she would happily tell him that. Very happily.

“About what?” she was not going to hang up before she got answers.

“I was hoping you would consider another offer,” Bellamy was still being a cryptic annoyance. “For a date. I mean, my offer.”

Was he offering? Was that Bellamy Blake offering to take her out on a date? Did he actually have feelings for her or was this just another sign of his ridiculous protective nature? If he was just doing this to keep her close to him, she was going to kick his ass so hard that his grandchildren would be able to feel it.

Maybe she owed him a chance to explain first. They really did need to talk.

“Let’s talk,” she sighed.

“I’ll see you in ten minutes,” he promised.

 

PLUS ONE

She stands in the bathroom, clutching her phone to her ear as she waits for the person on the other end to just pick up already. The phone keeps ringing and ringing and ringing, and she is ready to give up when he finally picks up.

“Clarke?” the voice on the other end is not too certain who is on her end of the line.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she feels her face stretch into the widest smile. “Look, would you mind doing me a favor? See, I’m on this date, and it’s my first date with this guy, but I don’t know. I’m not sure if he’s really the one for me. Can you come get me?”

Her giggles might ruin the fun a little, but she is honestly trying to make it work. He might be angry for a little while, but she’s sure that he’ll get the joke eventually – and so she’s hiding in the bathroom, holding on to the counter with one hand while the other clings to her phone.

“This is not funny,” Bellamy warns her.

“I think it’s hilarious,” she can finally release the laughter that’s been bubbling up inside of her. “Do I even need to ask if you can come get me?”

There is no one else in the room with her at this time, which is good, because that would only lead to a ton of awkward moments. Sure, other women might be able to sympathize with a girl calling a friend to come pick her up from her date, but this particular situation is more of a parody than a serious request. It might be offensive to some people, or they just will not understand why she thinks this is freaking hilarious.

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed in the ladies’ room,” she can actually hear him rolling his eyes. “I’d try though. For you.”

Now she’s blushing. Damn him! He has been nothing but ridiculously charming ever since he interrupted that semi-promising date she went on to get over him. And while she likes the teasing and the blushing, she is really wishing that he would just go back to Bellamy Blake, the guy she fell in love with.

“I need to ask you about your intentions first,” she teases.

“Nothing good,” he vows, and she shivers in response. “I promise.”

Anticipation settles in her belly, and she realizes that she would let him make good on this promise – right this second if he wanted to. But then she takes a deep breath, and remembers the promise she made to herself: that she would make him apologize and grovel for a while. His Neanderthal behavior has to be discouraged, and since Octavia’s previous efforts have not changed a thing, Clarke would give it a shot.

“Bellamy,” her voice is strangled – it is not helping her feelings for him.

“I promise to keep teasing you just like this if you come back to the table,” his voice is full of dark promises. “We can even skip dessert if you want.”

She would rather take the dessert home with them, thanks. Oh God, they are moving way too fast and that should be terrifying, but it’s not. She’s known him for years, knows that he would not risk their friendship for anything less than everything.

So why wait? So why go through the motions of a normal relationship?

“We’ll take it home,” she decides right then.

“Clarke,” this time his voice is cracking. “We’re going to have to stay for at least a few more minutes. I can’t stand up like this.”

Her resulting laughter is the victorious kind, and she knows that is the perfect end to this conversation. She hangs up on him, putting her phone back in her purse and checking her reflection in the mirror before walking out of the ladies’ room with an extra swing in her step. She knows how Bellamy loves to watch her hips, and her ass – and her everything. And she’s experimenting with just how much power she has over him.

“You’re killing me, Princess,” he tells her when she sits down.

For some reason, she has actually started to like that stupid nickname. Especially now that his eyes promise to worship her as if she actually is royalty – later, at his place or hers. Probably his, seeing as he doesn’t have a roommate, and his gorgeous new bed has yet to be properly christened. Yes, she can work with that.

“Can we have the check, please?” she asks a nearby waiter.

She sips her water primly, watching Bellamy from the corner of her eyes. He cannot take his eyes off her, and so she reaches for him with one hand. Their fingers intertwine on top of the table, her pale hands providing a sharp contrast to his darker ones. She imagines those hands on her bare skin later and blushes again.

“Do you want me to return you to your tower?” Bellamy knows the importance of this question – and her answer.

“You’re so corny,” she rolls her eyes at him. “But I would prefer to return home with my knight. He might do some not-so-knightly things to me.”

At Bellamy’s tortured groan, she realizes that they might never leave the restaurant if they keep talking like this. And she laughs, because she’s never felt this happy.

“Your check,” the waiter has returned.

Bellamy has already dug up his wallet, tossing bills onto the table with a speed that makes her giggle. Clearly he is now in a rush to get home.

This time, he’ll drive her to his home – not hers – and they’ll stay. Together.

 


End file.
